Ama Boatemaa Ofori-Birikorang is a doctoral student at the E.W Scripps College of Communication majoring in Media Arts & Studies. Originally from Ghana, Ama’s academic journey began with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and French, which ignited her interest in issues related to power structures, decision making and social change.
After her bachelor’s degree, she worked as a gender and development coordinator at the Center for Media and Development Communication for a year. Center for Media and Development Communication (CMDC) is a non-governmental organization in Ghana that seeks to create awareness on issues regarding gender and minorities mainstreaming. As a gender and development coordinator, Ama was in-charge of developing programs and workshop for women and children empowerment within rural communities and wrote proposals to seek funding for initiatives.
Subsequently, she gained a Master of Arts degree in Communication and Media Studies (Strategic Communication) in Ghana and then joined the Center for International Studies at Ohio University in 2021. Throughout Ama’s graduate studies, her scholarly concerns have been mostly critical pedagogy, gender, and media studies. She has conducted studies on gender
stereotypes, media framing and women empowerment within the Ghanaian context. More so, she found herself consistently engaged in rigorous research work and intense academic writing while as a Graduate Assistant/Teaching Assistant in Ghana and at Ohio University. Nonetheless, Ama is more inclined towards the qualitative paradigm as it satisfies her interest in interrogating issues in-depth to unravel hidden meanings.